Watson leads in fundraising among mayoral candidates

Mayor Kirk Watson leads all other candidates for mayor in terms of contributions received and political expenditures, according to reports filed Monday with the city clerk’s office.

His Oct. 7 report shows that the mayor raised more than $216,000 over the most recent period, which started in mid-July. Watson reported raising more than $710,000 on his July 15 report. That report showed Watson had spent more than $166,000, and the latest report shows he has spent more than $488,000 for a total expenditure of more than $650,000.

According to his recent filing, Watson still has about $267,000 in the campaign bank account less than 30 days out from the election.

Watson’s campaign manager, Joe Cascino, told the Austin Monitor, “Donations are a key indicator of community support and so we’re honored to continue to have that support.”

Watson is the only mayoral candidate reporting financial support from a political action committee. Unsurprisingly, that is the Austin Firefighters Association PAC. The group did not report any expenditures on its Oct. 1 filing but likely has spent some money since then. (A number of other labor organizations have also endorsed Watson, including the Austin Travis County EMS Employees Association.)

Former Council Member Kathie Tovo reported raising a little less than $20,000, and community activist Doug Greco brought in about $10,000 since their last reports in July. However, Tovo has spent twice as much since her last report — more than $32,000 — and has about the same amount left in her campaign account. Greco, who is less well-known, reported spending more than $17,000 and maintaining more than $45,000.

Tovo has loaned her campaign more than $181,000 over the years. She reported raising more than $57,457 on July 15.

In his July 15 filing, Greco reported raising $88,334. A number of those contributions are in dispute because of the city’s rules about the home address of contributors.

Betsy Greenberg, a former member of the city’s Ethics Review Commission, filed complaints with the commission against both Watson and Greco. She alleged that both violated the ZIP code contributions limits in city regulations by accepting more than the allowed amount of money from outside the city. Greenberg has said she supports Carmen Llanes Pulido in the mayoral race.

Greco filed suit in federal court alleging that the city ordinance limiting outside-the-city donations is unconstitutional. He asked for an expedited hearing, but none has been scheduled so far. Watson’s attorney has explained that his client’s contributions are legal because many of the contributors cited in Greenberg’s complaint actually live in Austin. Greenberg’s calculations are therefore based on erroneous information, he said.

In a press release, the Greco campaign explained that he has “not accepted an additional 25 donations from outside the city in this reporting period in order to make a good-faith effort to comply with an existing City of Austin rule limiting donations geographically.”

The press release noted that Greco was the only candidate to sign the city’s campaign contract, “which limited him to $120,000 in spending and contributions for the election in exchange for a share of public funding in runoff. Since no other candidate has signed the contract by the end of the filing period (Aug. 19), Greco is released from the $120,000 contribution and spending limit, and will still be the only candidate to qualify for public funding in a runoff.”

In her Oct. 7 filing, Llanes Pulido reported that she had raised a little more than $33,000 and spent more than $37,000 this reporting period. She has spent most of that and had less than $5,000 in her campaign account as of Monday. She has loaned her campaign $20,000.

The final mayoral candidate, Jeffery Bowen, reported raising more than $11,000 and spending about $3,600 during the reporting period, and has nearly $10,000 remaining in his campaign account. The campaign owes him for a loan of $2,000. His website notes that KXAN is excluding him from a mayoral debate on Thursday because he has not raised $25,000 indicating that he is a “viable” candidate.

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